carlculmer

Former Prime Minister Hubert Minnis will lead the official opposition when Parliament meets again, following a vote to consider a new leader for the Free National Movement after a crushing defeat at the electoral poll.

Party Chairman Carl Culmer said Minnis will stay on as leader until November when the party holds a convention. Minnis will not contest the leadership post at the convention.

The big picture

Nearly 300 members of the council met on Wednesday evening to decide whether or not Minnis will stay on as leader when the House of Assembly meets.

This meeting follows a 17-12 vote by the executive board for Minnis to remain leader of the party until November.

Minnis won his Killarney seat, but his party lost, only retaining 7 seats.

Minnis’ fate has become the topic of discussion since the party’s loss. In 2012, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham resigned his position as FNM leader and as parliamentarian after his party lost the election.

Who are the possible contenders?

Former Cabinet Minister and MP for Marco City Michael Pintard, Former Minister of State for Finance Kwasi Thompson and MP for St Barnabas Shandendon Cartwright all of whom have won their seats, are the favourites to succeed Minnis.

FNM Chairman Carl Culmer called on the opposition to publicly address its party’s connection to Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard and join in asking for justice for Bahamian victims affected by the alleged actions of Nygard.  But PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell points a finger at the FNM, alleging Nygard played a role in that party too.

Why it matters

• Peter Nygard was arrested in Winnipeg, Canada, and is expected to be extradited to the US for sex crimes against Bahamian, American and Canadian women.  On Tuesday, he faced nine counts of racketeering, sex trafficking, and other related crimes.
• Nygard, who owns a luxury home in Lyford Cay is a known financier of the PLP and alleged to have paid then Labour and National Insurance Minister Shane Gibson payments totaling $94,131.10 over an 18-month period. The scandal rocked the party at the 2017 general election.

Pointing Fingers

However, Opposition Chairman Fred Mitchell responded to FNM Chairman Culmer saying Nygard contributed financially to the FNM as well.

Mitchell said, “It is widely known that Peter Nygard, a foreign billionaire, contributed money to the FNM’s political campaign. This means that since the FNM is the Government, they are the ones who have an obligation to address their connections to Mr. Nygard and disassociate themselves from these criminal allegations.

“But the Bahamian people know the FNM very well. In their quagmire of deceit, there is no form of nastiness, filth and degradation to which the FNM will not go; anything to try to win the general election and discredit the PLP,” Mitchell said.